THE SPRING SHOW NYC

The brand new Spring Show NYC, Apr. 28-May 2, 2011, is making its inaugural appearance at the Park Avenue Armory with an impressive lineup of 65 top dealers, members of the Art and Antique Dealers League of America. Tonight's Apr. 27 benefit preview boasts a selection of animal art -- an art bash “with a wild side!” -- with a portion of the proceeds earmarked for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Honorary co-chairs of the event are New York Observer publisher Jared Kushner and his wife, Celebrity Apprentice star Ivanka Trump.

Beyond the booths, the fair features a series of lectures and guided tours, including a “bird’s-eye view” of jewelry at the fair with Ruth Petalson, author of Living Jewels and founder of Bespoke Books. Derek E. Ostergard is presenting a lecture on “Le Bon Marriage: The French Alliance of Modernism and the Luxury Trades, 1910-1939,” while Tim Knox, director of London’s Sir John Soane’s Museum, is talking on the whimsical subject of “Architecture for Animals: Menageries and Aviaries in 18th and Early 19th-Century England.”

The fair even has a bit of Hollywood celebrity, once removed, as a lecture on Buddhist Art is due from Tibet House founder Dr. Robert Thurman, aka father of Uma. (Image: Parian Figural Group at Charles & Rebekah Clark.)